I Won't Say I'm in Love
by Valaina Wynn
Summary: A little Jily piece for a Secret Santa! Set in the Potters' fifth or sixth year at Hogwarts. Of course James and Lily refuse to admit their everlasting love for each other. That doesn't doesn't mean it's not true.


**A/N: Just a little piece I did for Lauren over at separatefictions on tumblr for Jily Secret Santa!**

"Admit it, mate…you're nuts for her."

James only shook his head at Sirius's accusation. "I feel nothing, I'm telling you. She's pretty, sure, but she's got…I don't know, she's got a _quality_ about her."

Sirius only laughed. "A quality."

"Yeah! You know…she's…it's just a quality, okay?"

"Prongs, you're making absolutely no sense." Sirius stood up then, leaning against a tree as he stretched. "If anyone's got a quality about them, it's you. You're crazy for Lily Evans."

"Never said that," James retorted.

"You've asked her out every other week for the last two years."

"Merely a tease, my friend. She'll let her guard down sooner or later, you know." James stretched across the grass and grinned up at the sky. "And once she does…"

"What, are you planning to woo her?" Sirius laughed.

James blushed furiously and made a not-so-kind gesture, which only made his friend laugh harder.

"For your information," he said, "I am, in fact, planning to 'woo' her. Not for any particular reason…just trying to keep my reputation intact."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "And what, pray tell, is your so-called 'reputation'?"

"The reputation of a suave gentleman, one the ladies can't resist."

"Sure seems like Lily's done a good job of resisting you so far, mate."

"But she won't for long. It's only a matter of time before she succumbs to my charm alone." James sat up. He seemed to be thinking about something for a minute, his face lighting up a minute later. "I have an idea. On a completely unrelated note to this entire conversation we've just had…what do girls tend to like for Christmas?"

Sirius could barely breathe; he was laughing so hard.

"So, Lily…got your eye on anyone special this holiday season?" Marlene grinned at her friend.

"Sadly, no," Lily replied. "Most of the boys at this school are so…what's the word… _ugh._ "

Marlene laughed. "Not entirely sure that's an actual adjective. But I know what you mean. How about that Potter boy? He's had his eye on you for a while now if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed." Lily rolled her eyes. "But I'm definitely not interested. You know as much as I do that James Potter is an arrogant toe rag."

"True," Marlene agreed, "but he is handsome, you know. And isn't Christmas the season of giving? You could give that poor boy what he wants – a date with you."

"Oh God, not a chance in this lifetime!" Lily couldn't stifle a snort of disgust. "Potter's going to have to keep fishing if he wants to get lucky with any girl."

"Poor guy."

"Hardly."

"Whatever." Marlene gathered her books and stood from the desk. "Since we're obviously not going to get any studying done here, I'm going back to the common room. See you later, Lily."

Lily waved at her friend's retreating form, then let out a sigh of relief.

"Fooled her."

"Aren't you glad this Hogsmeade weekend was so conveniently placed after the conversation we just had yesterday about buying a certain witch a Christmas present?" Sirius ducked to avoid his friend's arm, which had suddenly come swinging toward him.

"I told you, Padfoot, this is supposed to be a secret," James said with a mock glare, though he was blushing again. He rounded on Remus and Peter, who had since cracked up. "And you two need to keep quiet, too. Can't have everyone implying, you know."

"Implying what?" Remus said through his laughter, "that you, James Potter, actually care enough about a girl to buy her a gift?"

"Exactly."

They had reached Hogsmeade by this point, and the shops loomed before them.

"Well, let's get looking," Sirius said. He nudged James playfully with his elbow. "Better find the perfect gift for that special someone!"

He couldn't avoid James's arm this time, and the snow was really very cold.

"So, do we want to eat or shop first?" Marlene said.

"I'd like to eat," Alice said from her spot beside Lily as the small group of girls neared Hogsmeade. "I heard there was this great new place next to Honeyduke's. What about you, Lily? What do you want to do?"

"Um…" Lily hadn't been paying all that much attention to the conversation. Needless to say, her mind was somewhere else. "Maybe we could…"

Her voice trailed off then, her eyes fixed on something in the distance. Marlene and Alice followed her gaze and hid their grins; the object of their friend's attention was none other than James Potter, joking around with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, and holding a suspiciously plain bag.

"Hey, Alice," Marlene said pointedly, "why don't you and I head to that place you were talking about and order? Lily, we'll get you a drink – you just meet us there."

"What?" Lily said, snapping out of whatever daze she had fallen into. "Okay, I'll- "

But her friends were already gone, conspiratorial expressions on their grinning faces. Lily sighed and glanced toward James again, hating herself for what she was about to do. But he was…well, he was something. She would play this cool.

Lily held her head high and started toward the group, trying to pretend like she was going somewhere else. Maybe if she walked fast enough he wouldn't even notice her and then she wouldn't have to-

"Hey, Evans, wait up!"

Failure. Lily swore softly as James approached her, ignoring his friends who were now trying not to laugh. She reluctantly stopped walking and turned to him.

"Hello, Potter. What do you want?"

"Well…" Was it just her imagination, or did the great James Potter actually seem _nervous_? "I…Evans, we've known each other for a while now, and I like to think that we're friends."

 _Keep on thinking._

"And, um…anyway…I wanted to give you something, Evans. Call it a…call it a token of friendship." He held out the bag and Lily had no choice but to take it. After all, when had James ever been this sincere about anything?

The bag wasn't very heavy, and she reached her hand inside to pull out…a box?

A little felt box, plain and black, not from any of the Hogsmeade shops she knew he frequented.

"Potter…"

"Just open it, Evans." Was he blushing? It was hard to tell under the windburn from the snow.

Lily opened the box and felt her breath catch. It was a necklace. A small jewel on a silver chain. She looked at James, who was definitely blushing now.

"Potter," she said again. "I…I don't know what to say."

Obviously James didn't know what to say either, because he only blushed harder, took a deep breath, and kissed Lily on the lips.

And she let him.

Somewhere there were cheers, but Lily couldn't bring herself to care. She leaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck like she never wanted to let go.

Eventually, though, they had to come up for air. James was red all the way up to his ears, but he was smiling profusely.

"I think we've effectively ruined this friendship, Evans, don't you?" He whispered. Lily could only laugh before he kissed her again.

 _Best Christmas Ever._


End file.
